I’m so honored to have been chosen to participate in the Mother’s Day Campaign, sponsored by Martha Stewart Crafts and PLAID. They sent me a HUGE box chock-full of lovely crafting items to create a unique Mother’s Day craft tutorial!
So I made an unboxing video, complete with sound effects supplied by Lil Tot and with Final Cut Pro dropping frames every step of the way due to my slow-as-molasses computer.
The tutorial/s will be posting April 25, so stay tuned!:-D
I have something cool for all you guys…in the form of a guest post!
Another talented DIY maven out there has written some content exclusively for Chic Steals readers and shared a tutorial which I think you’re all going to love. (Hint: there’s a little beading…and a little tying…involved… but that’s all I’m going to say!;-)
Til tomorrow then, lovelies! Hope you’ll be as excited as I am!:-D
I’ve actually been up on Mt. Hood all weekend since my in-laws have arrived to stay for the week and they always want to go on a trip out to Timberline when they visit. I could have done without it (considering I’ve had a bad head cold and sinus infection since last week), but when when the in-laws are in town, there’s not much choice in the matter. Besides, I was hoping the skiing practice would help Lil Tot, who has been taking snowboarding lessons on and off through the Winter, but still isn’t a very confident skiier. (Of course he has a head cold and sinus infection too – which is where I got mine – so he wasn’t up to much activity either.)
But he tried and even managed to ski by himself a little bit on the flat parts!
We managed to ski down a green slope yesterday without incident, but today Hub and the in-laws insisted on going up to the top of the mountain because they were bored with the kiddie slopes. Splitting up was not an option either, and so I worked super-hard to push a 6-year-old who can’t turn down a very steep, sloping mountain on fresh powder.
I can’t believe I didn’t put my foot down and refuse to try skiing this. Look at that slope!!
But a quarter of the way down I went over a hardened ball of powder, my left leg started sliding away from me, and Lil Tot (wedged in-between my skis) pushed outwards with his legs, and we went down in a big heap. My left leg was wrenched outwards out a weird angle, and when I tried to stand again I found my knee had turned to jelly. With Lil Tot frantically crying because he thought we’d never be able to get down, I was able to get us [slowly] down to the bottom of the mountain again, and then loop around and back to the lodge. At least we didn’t have much time left anyway before we had to head home.
My knee is feeling pretty weird, but hopefully a good soaking in a hot bath tonight will help things. Note to self: when steering other human beings down the mountain, stay on the flat paths!!!;-)
Despite our skiing mishaps, I always enjoy the food at Timberline Lodge (though if you’re staying for more than 2 days it gets a bit repetitive).
Full Breakfast Buffet: blueberry pancakes with raspberry sauce and maple syrup, raspberry jam croissants, maple bacon, lodge sausages, assorted cheese, fresh fruit.
Lunch Cheese Tasting Plate: Smokestack, Smokey Blue, and Brindle cheese with smoked hazelnuts, crusty bread, and peppered pear preserves. Strawberry Lemonade.
The cheeses drizzled with rosemary honey.
Vegetarian Dinner Tasting Plate: sauteed broccolini and baby carrots, poached duck egg, celery root and pine nut pot pie with raclette cream.
Pink Lady Apple Pie with pine nut brittle, brandy cream, and salted caramel ice cream.
image source (FYI you can actually buy these magnets on Zazzle!)
DO YOU LOVE CRAFTING MORE THEN ANYTHING ELSE?
IS YOUR CRAFT ROOM TAKING OVER YOUR HOUSE?
DO YOU HAVE A CRAFTING OBBSESSION?
ARE YOU ADDICTED?
ARE YOU A SELF-PROCLAIMED “CRAFT HOARDER?”
IS YOUR CRAFTING CAVE THE BIGGEST AND BOLDEST?
A major television production company is casting extreme crafting enthusiasts for a new major television series. They are in search of the most obsessive and devoted crafters, who consider crafting not a hobby but a way of life. They are looking for solo crafters as well as groups of crafters of all specialties from needlepoint to decoupage…nothing is off limits, the more insane and extreme, the better!
If you own more fabric then the local fabric store and you have glitter shooting out of your ears, they want YOU!
Interested crafters should email Sean De Simone atcraftercasting@gmail.com with your story and interest in crafting, along with a current photo of yourself and some of your crafts. Also include your current contact telephone number and email address.
I know some of my readers definitely fit the description above…and please pass this on to anyone else you know who might fit the bill! Thanks!
I’ve been hard at work on a little personal project that I can’t wait to share with all of you. If everything goes well and I can finish wrapping this up…I’ll be done and launching it tomorrow.
From a recent Container Store flyer. Click on any photo to enlarge.
As the year draws to close, I attempt what I always do every year-end…a major closet cleanout.
From the same flyer…and no, this isn’t my closet!!! I wish!
This year I’m being particularly ruthless about it, and really taking a long and hard look at what takes up my most precious closet real-estate, and getting rid of things that I don’t wear, will not wear, and that just aren’t who I am anymore.
From a Spring 2011 Spiegel catalog.
From Lucky Magazine April (I think?) 2011.
I’m almost embarrassed to admit to the sheer amount of stuff that I’ve been hoarding for years, and never once wore. I have to finally come to terms with the fact that these pieces were never really “me,” and I was trying to embrace a trend I could never figure out how to style properly in any other way. My Keep It or Toss It Rules?
Keep It or Toss It? 7 Ways to Create a Curated Closet
{And when I write TOSS, I mean sell, exchange, or donate! Or upcycle with some DIY only if you will wear it after its makeover…}
1. Keep only ONE item that is a certain shape, style and color, unless this one item is your signature piece.** (More on “signature pieces” below.) If you never wear capes, how many gray capes do you need? KEEP one, TOSS the others.
2. TOSS all your “skinny clothes” except for ONE or TWO pieces that you love and you want to keep as a goal. (If you end up getting down to that size again in the future, you’ll want to buy all new things then in order to show the new you off!!) In the same vein, TOSS all your fat clothes, except ONE to remind you of how far you’ve come. Put both the fat and the skinny clothes in a box, out of sight…unless you want a daily reminder hitting you in the face every time you open your closet. (Could be useful for inspiration…?)
3. TOSS all the clothes that are more than 2 sizes bigger or smaller than what you are now. Or have them altered so you can still wear them.
4. KEEP basics, as long as they aren’t ripped or stained. Ripped – TOSS! Stained – re-purpose as workout clothes, DIY, or TOSS. Try to pare down your basics to ONE or TWO of each kind (TWO white tight-fitting t-shirts, ONE white loose-fitting t-shirt etc.)
5. For every single piece in your closet, you must be able to visualize at least 3 different ways to style it (that you would actually wear!) If you’re having trouble coming up with different ways to wear it, then you should probably TOSS it.
6. Make sure that every piece you KEEP is special in some way…either it has a little detail, or a pretty print, or color that looks fabulous on you. The stuff that you don’t love to death but has a special story behind it and you just can’t bear to part with it? …Box it with your skinny clothes.
7. Stand back often and assess what’s left in your wardrobe. Sometimes it helps to pull everything out and only put back items you love…but for me, there was just too much stuff! Standing back from everything gives me a little perspective.
**And finally, to create your own identity within a mass of clothes and other items…
Develop your signature: a piece of clothing, jewelry, or accessory that is something you love and is uniquely YOU. Though I have a ton of earrings, I always wear a bunch of mismatched gemstone studs in different colors and sizes. It’s just something I’ve been doing this year that I’ve really begun to like, and if I lose one…hey! I have a whole bunch more that I can replace it with.
Also: a valet bar is a must! Some people call them an “edit bar,” but even a hook will suffice. Just somewhere you can stick clothes to put together outfits before putting everything on. It seriously saves time!
Since I have limited space, I actually hang vests and button-front shirts on the same hangers as dresses and blouses! Each item on a shirt hanger in my closet also gets a necklace, because I have a huge necklace collection and always forget what I own. I have to see it or I will forget about it completely.
I’m currently being inspired by well-organized closets (cue Ikea and The Container Store catalogs), and beautiful photos of airy, dreamy spaces to house all one’s accoutrements.
Carly J. Cais I am a DIY’er, designer, sewist, maker, and marketer. Chic Creative Life is where I share what I do, and help others bring their unique style into their own lives.
I have something cool for all you guys…in the form of a guest post!
I’ve actually been up on Mt. Hood all weekend since my in-laws have arrived to stay for the week and they always want to go on a trip out to Timberline when they visit. I could have done without it (considering I’ve had a bad head cold and sinus infection since last week), but when when the in-laws are in town, there’s not much choice in the matter. 
Besides, I was hoping the skiing practice would help Lil Tot, who has been taking snowboarding lessons on and off through the Winter, but still isn’t a very confident skiier. (Of course he has a head cold and sinus infection too – which is where I got mine – so he wasn’t up to much activity either.)
image 
I’ve been hard at work on a little personal project that I can’t wait to share with all of you. If everything goes well and I can finish wrapping this up…I’ll be done and launching it tomorrow.
